Physicists Reach a New Milestone in Understanding the Universe’s Fundamental Forces

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In the quest to decode the mysteries of the universe, researchers from the University of Rochester have been involved for decades with international collaborations at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, more commonly known as CERN.

In the quest to decode the mysteries of the universe, researchers from the University of Rochester have been involved for decades with international collaborations at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, more commonly known as CERN.

Building on their extensive involvement at CERN, particularly within the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) Collaboration, the Rochester team—led by Arie Bodek, the George E. Pake Professor of Physics—recently achieved another groundbreaking milestone. Their achievement—to be published in a collection of papers in Physics Reports—centers on measuring the electroweak mixing angle, a crucial component of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. This model describes how particles interact and precisely predicts a plethora of phenomena in physics and astronomy.

“Our most recent measurements and analysis of the electroweak mixing angle are the best measurements to date, calculated from collisions of protons at CERN, and strengthen an understanding of particle physics,” Bodek says.

Read more at: University of Rochester

Building on their extensive involvement at CERN, the University of Rochester team recently achieved “incredibly precise” measures of the electroweak mixing angle, a crucial component of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. (Photo: Samuel Joseph Hertzog; Julien Marius Ordan)